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USC is real, Irish are not
Published September 18, 2006
If this past Saturday was "Showdown Saturday," this Saturday could be called "Somnolent Saturday."
Frankly, this week looks to be the worst of the season. (Of course, what that probably means is that two or three heavyweights will suffer inexplicable losses.)
Anyway, what did we take from "Showdown Saturday"?
USC is to be feared. The Trojans are extremely young. But they're also extremely fast and extremely talented. Trojans Coach Pete Carroll: "We're just getting going. We're just getting started. It's exciting." Well, maybe for him. Certainly not for the rest of the Pac-10.
Notre Dame was overrated. The defense was exposed by Michigan. And QB Brady Quinn sure looked human -- Ron Powlus-esque, even. As for Charlie Weis? He and his staff were outcoached by Lloyd Carr and his staff. That has to make Irish fans shudder. But give Carr credit: He revamped his staff in the offseason, asking for more aggression on both sides of the ball. That sure showed in South Bend. (Worth noting: That was Weis' third loss at home in his tenure.)
Auburn sure can play defense. The Tigers might not be the biggest defense around, but, man, they're quick. They swarm to the ball, then knock the snot out of you. It helped their cause Saturday that LSU QB JaMarcus Russell was, as usual, inconsistent, but Auburn won that game more than LSU lost it. You still have to wonder about Auburn QB Brandon Cox, though.
The Big 12 came up short in big games. Nebraska was spanked by USC. Texas Tech was shut down by TCU. Oklahoma got robbed at Oregon (more on that later). The only league teams worthy of the top 20 are Texas and Oklahoma.
Louisville is a legit BCS contender. No, Miami isn't what it used to be -- not close. (The 'Canes think stomping on another team's logo is going to restore the swagger? Weak.) But the Cardinals still manhandled them, even without star RB Michael Bush. And star QB Brian Brohm had to leave in the third quarter with a thumb injury. The Louisville defense played much better than expected, and the Cards put more consistent pressure on UM QB Kyle Wright than the 'Canes did on Brohm and backup Hunter Cantwell. The Nov. 2 West Virginia-at-Louisville game just got even bigger.
TCU is a threat to go 12-0. So is Boise State, so expect talk to commence about the Broncos and Horned Frogs "crashing" the BCS party. Boise's biggest test may be Sept. 30 at Utah. TCU's may be Oct. 5 at Utah. In other words, if the Utes want to make sure they remain the only non-BCS league team to make the BCS, they'll need to take care of business in consecutive weeks. Obviously, a huge advantage for TCU is that Utah will have just four days to prepare before their game.
The ACC is mediocre. Virginia loses at home to Western Michigan. Miami gets hammered at Louisville. North Carolina State loses by 20 at Southern Miss. Maryland was routed by West Virginia on Thursday. For the second week in a row, visiting Troy threw a scare into a homestanding ACC team (this week, it was Georgia Tech; last week, it was FSU). North Carolina was lucky to beat Division I-AA Furman. Boston College had to go to double-overtime to outlast BYU.
Coming up big
Maybe some BCS-league schools are going to rethink this "We'll play a I-AA team and rout them on our way to becoming bowl eligible" thing.
This week, it was Southern Illinois beating Indiana 35-28, marking the fourth time this season a I-AA has beaten a BCS-league team. It has happened to Big Ten teams twice, as Northwestern (to New Hampshire) was a victim last week. The other two: Colorado (to Montana State) and Duke (Richmond).
There were five I-A non-BCSers that beat BCS-league teams Saturday: TCU over Texas Tech, Southern Miss over North Carolina State, Western Michigan over Virginia, Tulane over Mississippi State, Navy over Stanford. For the season, it's eight I-A non-BCSers with victories over BCS-league teams.
Western Michigan's win was the second week in a row a Mid-American Conference school went on the road and beat an ACC team. Last week, Akron won at NC State.
Grid bits
Georgia has posted two shutouts in a row, blanking South Carolina, then UAB. There's tremendous potential for three in a row with punchless Colorado coming in this week. The last time Georgia posted two shutouts in a season was 1980. That's also the last time the Bulldogs won a national title. The Bulldogs' defensive coordinator is Willie Martinez, a former UCF assistant. Another former UCF assistant who oversees a good defense is Gene Chizik at Texas.
Pardon Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops if he wants to get rid of instant replay now. His team was on the bad end of a call late last season against Texas Tech on the game-winning touchdown. Saturday, his team was on the bad end of two calls late in the game against Oregon -- one on an onside kick, another on an interference call -- that directly led to the Ducks' miraculous 34-33 come-from-behind win. The replay sure seemed to show that an Oregon player touched the ball before it went 10 yards on an onside kick -- but the refs didn't see it that way. Then, the replay sure seemed to show that Oklahoma DE C.J. Ah You tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage, which meant the interference call on OU FS Darien Williams should have been waved off -- but the refs didn't see it that way. "I don't want to say nothing right now because I'm kind of heated," Sooners QB Paul Thompson told The Oklahoman of Oklahoma City.
Born to Lose: Temple has lost back-to-back games 62-0. Last week, it was Louisville doing the honors. Saturday, it was Minnesota. Temple has been outscored 133-3.
Born to Lose II: Utah State as been outscored 106-7. Not surprisingly, the Aggies are 0-3.
The weirdest schedule this season has to belong to Air Force. The Falcons didn't play the first week of the season, lost by one at Tennessee in the second week, then were off again Saturday. Now, though, Air Force plays 11 weeks in a row, finishing off the season on Dec. 2.
Games of the Week
3. Penn State at Ohio State, 3:30 p.m., ABC (WFTV-Ch. 9): Penn State was shredded by Notre Dame two weeks ago. Can the Nittany Lions' defense improve quickly enough to make the Buckeyes work for their points?
2. Arizona State at California, 3:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net: Who's the third-best team in the Pac-10? This will tell.
1. Notre Dame at Michigan State, 8 p.m., ABC (WFTV-Ch. 9): Michigan State rolled up 533 yards in ripping Pitt on Saturday. What has to be scary for Notre Dame is that Pitt's cornerbacks and linebackers are superior to Notre Dame. But the Irish offense is miles better than Pitt's, and Michigan State's defense is mighty shaky.
A Final Thought: Hey, JaMarcus Russell: On the last play of the game, throw the ball into the end zone.
Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0)
Auburn Tigers (3-0)
USC Trojans (2-0)
Michigan Wolverines (3-0)
West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0)
Florida Gators (3-0)
Texas Longhorns (2-1)
LSU Tigers (2-1)
Oregon Ducks (3-0)
Georgia Bulldogs (3-0)
